Locomotive.



No. 744,398. l PATENTED NOV. Al7, 1903.

- J.' PLAYER.l

LOGOMUTIVE. APPLIUATION FILED MAY 1. 19'03.

N0 MODEL.

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UNITED STATES Patented November 17, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN PLAYER, OF DUNKIRK, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN LOCO- MOTIVE COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

LOCOMOTIVE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 744,398, dated November 17, 1903.

Application filed May l, 1903. Serial No. 155,107. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it `known that I, JOHN PLAYER, of Dunkirk, in the county of Chautauqua and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvementin Locomotives, of which improvement the following is a specification.

My invention relates to locomotive-engines of the class in which a portion of the weight is supported upon bearing wheels, either trailing or leading, or both, which are unconnected with the driving-wheels to which the motive power is applied, such portion of the weight not being therefore available for adhesion except by the provision of special appliances, generically known as traction-in,- creasers, for temporarily transferring a part of the weight carried by'the bearing-wheels to the driving-wheels.

The object of my invention is to provide an appliance of this type which shall be of simplified and inexpensive construction and ready applicability in locomotive constructions which are now standard and which shall be capable of effecting the desired transfer of weight gradually and without shock or sudden resistance.

The improvement claimed is'hereinafter fully set forth. y

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side view in elevation of a portion of the frame and spring arrangement of a locomo-l tive, illustrating an application of my inven-` tion; Fig. 2, a transverse section showing a front view of the appliance; Fig. 3, a similar section through one of the lever-hangers, and Fig. 4 a side view in elevation and on an enlarged scale of the abutting portions of an equalizer and a traction-increaser lever.

My invention is herein illustrated as applied in a locomotive having one or morev pairs of driving-Wheels l and a pair of bearing-wheels 3, which are in this case trailing wheels-that is to say, are located in rear of the drivin g-wheels. The driving-axles rotate in boxes fitted in the ordinary manner in pledestals formed upon the side frame members 8, and the boxes of the trailing axleare fitted in pedestals (not shown) which are secured to the frame members.

The springs 41, through which the weightborne by the axle `of the rear driving-wheelsY the other.

l is transmitted to said axle, are connected with the springs 42 of the axle of the trailing Wheels 3 by double-armed levers or equalizers 43, which are fulcrumed in hangers 44, secured to the frame members 8, and it will be obvious that the proportions of weight carried by the trailing axle and by the rear driving-axle, respectively, will be in inverse ratio to the lengths of the adjacent lever-arms of the equalizers and would, if the equalizers were at all times fulcru med at the same determined point in their length, be invariable. Means for shifting the fulcrum-points of the equalizers, and thereby varying the relative proportions of weight carried by the driving and trailing wheels, were-known in the art prior to my invention and are not, therefore, broadly claimed herein, my improvement consisting in a novel and improved mechanism for effecting this result,the essential elements and operation of which will now be described.

In prior traction-increaser constructions the equalizers have been pivoted upon one or the other of two fulcrums su pported on the frame and the proportion of weight carried has been varied when desired by moving the equalizers so as to displace one fulcrum and bring the other into operative position. Under my present invention a simplication of mechanism is eected and the transfer of weight is made gradually and without jar or shock by providing fulcrums for the equalizers fixed ou traction-increaser levers which are pivoted to the engine-,frame and moving saidlevers so as to causefone or the other of fthe fulcrums of each of them to serve as a pivot for the adjacent equalizer, the equalizers and tractionincreaser levers being maintained continuously in operative contact during the transfer from one fulcrum to To this end a traction-increaser lever 45, one on each side of the engine, is

.pivoted at one end by a pin 46 to and between the jaws of ahanger or fulcrum-supporter 44, secured to the engine-frame 8 Detween the pedestals of the trailing axle and those of the adjacent drivingLaxle,'the'center of the pin 46 being adjacent to the plane in which the equalizer is normally pivotedthat is to say, in which it is pivoted during the periods in which the maximum amount IOO of weight is carried by the trailing wheels. A segmental fulcrum or pivot -face 47 is formed on the lower side of the traction-increaser 45, adjacent to the eye through which its pivot-pin 46 passes, and a similar fulcrum or pivot-face 4S is formed upon the same side of the lever, longitudinallyin advance'of the fulcrum 47-z'. e., between the latter and the forwardly-projecting end of the lever. A bearing surface 49, which is outwardly curved on a comparatively long radius, extends from the fulcrum 47 to the fulcrum 48. A segmental recess or bearing 47, adapted to receive the fulcrum 47, is formed in the upper face of the equalizer 43, and a similar recess or bearing 48 is formed in said face in proper position to receive the fulcrum 48 when the traction-increaser lever 45 is depressed. Normally or when lthe engine is running with the maximum amount of weight apportioned to the trailing wheels carried thereon the equalizer is fulcrumed or pivoted on the rear fulcrum 47, and when a determined amount of weight is to be transferred from the trailing wheels to the driving-wheels the traction-increaser lever is depressed, and the leverage of the equalizer is then and thereby varied, so as to decrease the length of its arm adjacent to the driving-axle and increase the length of its opposite arm by causing it to be fulcrumed or pivoted on the forward fulcrum 48.

The depression and elevation of the traction-increaser levers to change the pivotal point of the equalizers are preferably, as shown, effected by the application of fluidpressure, the forward end of each tractionincreaser lever being in this instance coupled by a connecting rod or link 50 to the pistonrod 51 of a piston 52, which is iitted to work in a fluid-pressure cylinder 53, secured to a transverse brace 54, attached at its bottom to the frame members 8 and at its top to the boiler 4. The cylinder 53 is provided with any known and preferred form of valve for eecting the supply and exhaust of steam or air under pressure to and from opposite sides of 'the piston, accordingly as it may be desired to raise or lower the traction-increaser lever, said valve not forming in and of itself part of my present invention and not being, therefore, in detail herein set forth.

My improvement is not limited in application to the specific construction and disposition of springs and frame members herein illustrated nor to locomotives in which cross connections between the equalizers on opposite sides are emplyed, and it will also be apparent that it will be equally and similarly operative in connection with a pair of leading wheels instead of with trailing wheels, as herein described. While an independent fluid-pressure mechanism is preferably employed to actuate the traction-increaser lever on each side of the locomotive and will for structural reasons be found most convenient and desirable, both of said levers may, if desired, be coincidently moved by a single cylinder and piston without depart-ure from the principle of my invention.

Among the special advantages of my improvement may be noted the elimination of the separate fulcrums and connections heretofore employed and the provision of continous bearing-surfaces for the equalizers and traction-increaser levers, whereby these members are maintained in operative contact during the transfer of weight from one to another pivot-bearing, and such transfer is made without jar or shock.

I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. A locomotive-engine traction-increaser comprising aqpivoted lever having two longitudinally-separated fulcrums or pivot-faces, and means for moving said lever about its pivotal axis and bringing one of its fulcrums out of, and the other into, operative relation with an equalizer, thereby varying the leverage thereof.

2. A locomotive-engine traction-increaser comprising a pivoted lever having two fulcrums or pivot-faces and an interposed bearing-surface, and means for moving said lever about its pivotal axis and bringing one of its fulcrums out of, and the other into, operative relation with an equalizer, to vary the leverage thereof, and maintaining pressure of the lever on the equalizer, through the bearingsurface of the lever, during the transfer of bearing from one to the other fulcrum.

3. A locomotive-engine traction-increaser comprising a pivoted lever having two longitudinally-separated fulcrums or pivot-faces, and a fluid-pressure mechanism coupled to said lever and adapted to move it about its pivotal axis and bring one of its fulcrums out of, and the other into, operative relation with an equalizer, thereby varying the leverage thereof.

4. Alocomotive-engine traction-increaser comprising a pivoted lever having two fulcrums or pivotfaces and an interposed bearing-surface, and a fluid-pressure mechanism coupled to said lever and adapted to move it about its pivotal axis and bring one of'its fulcrums out of, and the other into, opera- ICO IIO

tive relation with an equalizer, to vary the y connected,at its opposite ends, to said springs,

a traction-increaser lever pivoted to the frame and having two fulcrums or pivot-faces, either of which may abut, through a corresponding bearing, on the equalizer, and means for moving the lever to bring one or the other of its fulcrums, as desired, into operative relation with its bearing on the equalizer.

6. The combination,in alocornotive-engine, of a frame, driving-wheels, bearing-Wheels, springs through which weight is applied to the driving and the bearing wheels, an equalizer conneoted,atits opposite ends, to said springs, a traction-increaser lever pivoted to the frame and having two fulcrums or pivot-faces, either of which may abut, through a corresponding bearing, on the equalizer, and a fluid-pressure mechanism Coupled to said lever and adapted to move it about its pivotal axis and bring one orthe other of its fulcrums, as desired, into operative relation with its bearing on the equalizer'.

7. The combination,in alocomotive-engine, of a frame, driving-Wheels, bearing-Wheels, springs through which weightis applied to the driving and the bearing wheels, an equalizer connected,at its opposite ends, to said springs, Y

a traction-increaser lever pivoted to the frame and having two fulcrums or pivot-faces and an interposed bearing-surface, and means for moving said lever about its pivotal axis and bringing one of its fulcrums out of, and the other into, operative relation with the equalizer, to vary the leverage thereof, and maintaining pressure of the lever on the equalizer, through the bearing-surface of the lever, during the transfer of bearing from one to the other equalizer.

8. The combination,in a locomotive-engine, of a frame, driving-wheels, bearing-Wheels, springs through which Weight is applied to the driving and the bearing Wheels, an equalizer oonnected,at its opposite ends, to said springs, a traction-increaserlever pivoted to the frame and having two fulcrums or pivot-faces and an interposed bearing-surface, and a iiuidpressure mechanism coupled to said lever and adapted to move it about its pivotal axis and bring one of its fulcrnmsout of, and the other into, operative relation with the equalizer, to vary the leverage thereof, and to maintain pressure of the lever on the equalizer, through the bearing-surface of the lever, during the transfer of bearing from one to the other ful-l crum.

9. `The combinatiomina locomotive-engine, of a frame, driving-wheels, bearing-Wheels, springs through which Weight is applied to the driving and the bearing wheels, an equalizer connected ,at its opposite ends, to saidsprings, and havingr two longitudinally-separated bearings on its upper face, a traction-increaser lever pivoted to the frame and having two fulcrums or pivot-faces, each in position tobe brought into engagement with one of the bearings of the equalizer, and an interposed segmental bearing-surface, and a fluid-pressure mechanism coupled to the traction-increaser lever and adapted to move it about its pivotal axis and bring one of its fulcrums out of operative relation with one of the bearings of the equalizer, and the other fulcrum into operative relation with the other bearing, and to maintain pressure of the lever on the equalizer, through the segmental bearing-su rface of the lever, during the transfer of bearing from one to the other fulorum..

JOHN PLAYER.

Witnesses:

JNO. WAXHAM, GEO. H. WEILER. 

